Dear Families,
Each FIRST Friday of the month means there’s a special “treat” in store for our students! We often make it a surprise, but we also know that you may enjoy a sneak peek into what we have planned. Tomorrow everyone will wear their pajamas, enjoy a little treat, and sit back during lunch for a short viewing of “A Charlie Brown Christmas”. This selection was not made arbitrarily. In honor of a native Minnesotan born in Minneapolis, this is a special treasure to share with our students! It also focuses on our Christian reason for celebrating Christmas. A bit of history for you…
On Dec. 9, 1965, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” debuted. The special garnered glowing reviews. And half the United States tuned in….The next year, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” received a Peabody Award, as well as an Emmy Award for Outstanding Children’s Program… Charles Schulz insisted on one core purpose: “A Charlie Brown Christmas” had to be about something. Namely, the true meaning of Christmas. Otherwise, Schulz said, “Why bother doing it?” Mendelson (producer-director) asked Schulz whether he was sure he wanted to include Biblical text in the special. The cartoonist’s response, Mendelson recalls: “If we don’t do it, who will?”
To Coca-Cola’s credit, Mendelson says, the corporate sponsor never balked at the idea of including New Testament passages. Neither, he says, did the network execs. The result — Linus’s reading from the Book of Luke about the meaning of the season — became “the most magical two minutes in all of TV animation,” the producer says.” (source: Michael Cavna for The Washington Post 2011)
I wonder if we’ve landed on a new St. John’s tradition!? As someone who worked with the producers of the show quipped: “As with any great piece of art, as many times that you see it, you take away something new. The humor, the heart, the laughter and the tears.”
In Joyful Service,
Mrs. Dolan
Read the full newsletter here: https://stjlutheranschool.org/eagle-connection-12-03-2020/